Team culture. Organizational culture. It seems like every-other business book on my Kindle recommendations list focuses on the topic of culture.
Culture continues to be a hot topic in the realm of work. It’s become increasingly clear over the past few decades that organizational mission and vision won’t get you far unless you can leverage the power of culture to rally the right people around that vision and see it materialize.
Culture boils down to how team members ‘stack hands’ and come together to pursue a goal, vision or mission.
As I’ve researched potential companies, I love to see is where smaller companies have an intentional focus on culture. And I believe this is what sets them up to go further faster as they experience growth and expansion.
Yet creating a strong culture within a small team can be dangerously overlooked. When your team is more like a golf team than football team (Sticky Teams, Osborne), it’s easy to dismiss the need to cultivate culture. When team members work so closely together, it’s easy to assume that the most important values that shape your organization are clear.
And they may be very clear… at the moment. But with every person you hire to your team, the more opportunity there is for your organizational values to dissipate. And that slow fade is hard to see. In fact, it’s almost imperceptible.
I learned the hard way how subtle that erosion can be. You see, it’s not the person that EVERYONE can clearly watch moving in the wrong direction. Nope. It’s the one that is moving just two degrees off. They look like they’re on the same page as everyone else. In fact, initially they are on the same page.
But as time progresses, and their perception of acceptable values go unchallenged eventually you look up and realize they’re on a different page. And they’ve taken a few good people with them.
And the worst feeling in the world is when you look up and realize, you’ve lost some really good people because you assumed culture translates automagically.
Building culture on a small team might feel like overkill. But it’s incredibly important for future success. In my experience, there are a few critical steps to create a strong culture with a small team.
- Clearly define your values and mission: This sounds remarkably familiar, doesn’t it? But don’t dismiss it quickly. Define what you stand for as a team. Establish a set of core values that everyone can rally around, and make sure that your mission is clearly defined and communicated. These values should guide all decision-making and help to create a shared understanding of what the team is working towards. Pro tip: Make them sticky. Don’t just write down value statements and call it good. Do the hard work to reduce these statements to their irreducible minimum. Economy of words is key here. The shorter the phrase, the easier to remember. And you want your team to remember them.
- Foster open communication: In a small team, communication is key. Encourage an open-door policy where team members feel comfortable approaching you with their ideas and concerns. Regular team meetings and one-on-one check-ins can also help to keep everyone on the same page and foster a sense of trust and transparency. Pro tip: Don’t expect your team to know they can always come to you. Go to them. The more you pursue them… their thoughts… their insights… their perspective, the more they will trust that you really mean it when “your door is open”.
- Lead by example: Model the behavior and values you want to see in your team. This means being honest, transparent, and supportive in all interactions with your team. Invest in their professional and personal growth. Communicate with your actions, not just your words and you’ll gain more equity than you need. Pro tip: Apologize. Just freaking apologize. If you have to eat humble pie in order to do so, then shove it down your pie hole. Nothing builds trust faster than when you own your mistakes and apologize. You’d be surprised the impact of simply owning your junk and creating safety for your team to own theirs.
Creating a strong culture within a small team requires effort and commitment from everyone involved. It may feel unnecessary or a little too soon… but it will prove to be time well-invested. By establishing clear values, fostering open communication, and leading by example with your small team, you get ahead of the game by crafting a culture talent and skill want to be part of.
And there’s nothing better than having talent and skill just waiting to join your team. 😀
